Last January, Close.io CEO, Steli Efti joined us for our quarterly BuildingTheSalesMachine event, to share his thoughts on sales hacks, tips and tricks for scaling a team. If you haven’t heard of Steli yet, we’re not quite sure where you’ve been ;-), but check him out. The Close.io blog is an absolute treasure trove of tips on selling in the real world, and building your sales team. Steli’s podcast with Hiten Shah, the Startup Chat is a gem and his “Hustle Hard” talk to founders at the Pioneers Festival in 2014 is one of our most reccomended starting points for Founders interested in building out their teams.

So, we were thrilled to have him come join us in NYC last winter and share his thoughts. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of Steli’s wisdom for the community.

Enjoy

Part I – Thoughts on Sales Technology and CRM

….Disclosure: Yes, Steli is the CEO of a Sales CRM, Close.io 😉

BTSM: When do you know to use technology and software to solve sales problems verses good old fashion elbow grease and hard work? (2:18)

Steli Efti Summary:

• do these things late
• essential : talking to customers , closing deals, creating outcomes, get on the street
• leave your bubble
• when the pain is so strong that you can’t take it, fix the problem (fix with technology)
• ex. spend 6 months researching the CRM market when we don’t have sales people
• if you don’t have at least 100 leads per year that you work with, use a spreadsheet
• once it becomes a real pain, go out there and find a solution

BTSM: I would Love to get your thoughts on the changing landscape of the CRM market the marketing animation companies that are moving into that market.

Steli Efti Summary:

• I’m super biased, I like close.io 🙂
• Companies that try to do everything, and be everything to everyone, probably good for the Enteprise
• It’s an exciting time, the first sales person focused apps
• Specific unique apps, simpler is usually better
• Most companies that do well with their sales stack, have discipline, have training.

Steli Efti dropped out of high school, taught himself to be an entrepreneur, is a life-long learner, and the founder of Supercool School, VibaTV and SwipeGood. As an alumni of Y Combinator, Steli is the CEO and co-founder of ElasticSales and Close.io. As if this isn’t enough already, Steli also advises startups and is the author of “The Ultimate Startup Guide To Outbound Sales.” You can find him on twitter here , or on linkedin here.